Monday, March 31, 2008

Here are a couple of pictures of the WWII Memorial on the mall in DC. The top picture is across the fountain to the Atlantic side of the memorial. The bottom picture is of the star field. Each star represents one thousand Americans that gave their lives in this great conflict. This was only a small portion of the field

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Another shot of Harper's Ferry. If you look closely you will see a board mounted vertically on the building next to the hardware door above the display plaques. This board marks the floods that have inundated the small town over the years, some as recently as 2005. The very top of the board marks the level of the water for the 1939 flood.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

My oldest daughter Katy and I drove to DC, traveling through Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio the first day. There was water everywhere and it was raining so hard I did not get a single picture on day one electing to concentrate on the road ahead and beat the snow as the car thermometer hovered between 34 and 36 degrees. At one point the flood waters were within 3 inches of going over I-70 and the exits at this location in Ohio were overrun with water. We did make it to our destination and settled in for the evening.

The next morning we awoke to about an inch of snow which melted quickly in the now bright sunshine. We continued our trek southeast through Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Western Maryland. The Appalachians were still void of any sign of spring and a blanket of snow covered the trees and ground in the high elevations. We continued southeast until we were sure we had time to do some sightseeing. At that point we headed off the interstate toward the National Historic Site of Harper's Ferry West Virginia. Of course as soon as I discovered there was a railroad through the area I headed for it and the shot above was the result. From Harper's Ferry the railroad crosses the Potomac River and immediately buries itself into the mountainside via this tunnel.

This was the beginning of a great adventure and I am anxious to share my pictures with you all and catch up on visits to your blogs.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Sorry I have been away for a while. Tonight is the first night I have been able to connect in about a week and I wanted to let everyone know where I have been and been up to. My oldest daughter and I are in Washington DC visiting an Uncle and her fiance who is an intern at the White House.

On Easter Sunday we had a tour of the West Wing done by Uncle Tom. What a treat! I will be sharing more photos in the coming week. I hope you enjoy them.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

I will be on the road for the next few days so I am leaving you with this picture from the Olympus until I can get on and post again. I am heading east this time but you will have to wait and see where.

Monday, March 17, 2008

The actual St. Patrick's Day parade was to be too late for me to stay for as I had another drumline competition to get to. But I was able to capture some of the participants in St. Patrick's festivities. The top young lady was participating in "Irish Idol" being put on by one of the local radio stations. Boy could she sing.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

It was a blustery, cold and slightly wet beginning to our Camera Club field trip Saturday morning to view and photograph the St. Patrick's Day celebrations downtown.

This is an example of what it was like when we arrived! Fortunately, a great lunch and conversation enabled the weather to change and dry out. For those of you wandering, the parade time is still a couple of hours off.

Friday, March 14, 2008

I have mentioned my Olympus C-740 camera several times in this blog and have mentioned it and shown it to several of my photography friends. It was my first digital camera and has served me well for many years. It is notoriously slow so capturing fast events is not one of its strengths. It is small so it goes with me many places that my larger camera doesn't. For that reason sometimes it takes me a while to download the pictures I have captured with it.

Today we have one of those captures, which is from our ice storm several weeks back. This picture was taken from a convenience store parking lot at the corner of Scenic and Battlefield one morning when the sun was just coming up.

I still love this little camera. Its optics are superb. I would love to hear about your first digital camera.

On another subject I received a Forbes Success Calendar for Christmas from a dear friend. I have to share one of the quotes from the weekend of March 8th and 9th.

"The ability to have our own way, and at the same time convince others theyare having their own way, is a rare thing among men. Among women, itis as common as eyebrows."

Thursday, March 13, 2008

I was informed tonight at the camera club meeting that people without BLOGGER id's could not make comments on my blog. I had not even noticed that. I have removed the restriction so anyone reading the blog can make comments.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

A final set of photos from the Ozark Drumline Competition. The top photo is of the Webb City director rushing around to get their drumline set up. She moved faster than anyone on the floor, giving me one of my best panning shots.

The remaining pictures are of our team in action. All of the schools did a great job. There is really some great talent out there. The hard work of not only the kids but the directors and director assistants that go into these shows is amazing.

Monday, March 10, 2008

I was on a mission during the latest drumline competition. One of the categories for our upcoming camera club scavenger hunt is "panning" so I was practicing. The speeds at which the drumline moved on the floor rarely got fast enough to get a good panning shot but sometimes they got close.

These shots were all indoors and shot at an ISO of 1600 therefore there is a lot of noise in the shots which can distract or sometimes enhance a shot. I dropped the shutter to around F10 which increase my exposure time then I panned with a target band member. The bottom shot is one of those attempts.

The top picture is of Amy again. It isn't the clearest of pictures but it shows her having fun. (Couldn't resist!)

Sunday, March 09, 2008

What do band fans do in the winter? They do Winter Drumline. This was taken at Ozark High School's Drumline competition. That is my youngest daughter in the front. Ozark put on an outstanding competition and I am happy to report that we got first place.

Friday, March 07, 2008

While we were down on Commercial Street there was a particular storefront window that really caught my attention. I don't know who did it but they really did a great job. I actually took pictures of a window display!

The Style is a vintage boutique. I wish them the best and if the rest of the store grabs you like the window does they should do fine.

Thursday, March 06, 2008

The old industrial area of Springfield between downtown and Chestnut Expressway is undergoing a major shift. There are a lot of old buildings being renovated and recycled into modern uses. One of the most dramatic is this one, the Missouri Technology Center. Like a phoenix rising out of the ashes it has taken a prominent place in the old industrial area. Other buildings are being renovated form Missouri State University and for lofts, an ever increasing use for many downtown buildings. The nice thing about all of this is the destruction of many of these buildings has stopped. The skeletons remain with their charm.

This shot is one of the few that I have posted where I have used my 10-20mm Sigma wide angle lens. I had to use it to capture the look I wanted to from where I was.

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Parts of Springfield woke up to a rather surprising sight. A freak wrap around snow storm dumped upwards of 6 -8 inches in parts of our fair city. At home I had about 2 inches. This was shot over the noon hour today at Nathaniel Greene Park. I was fortunate that no one had made tracks in the snow so it was still pristine.

Monday, March 03, 2008

A quiet morning on Commercial Street gives a well deserved break for officers. I can't even imagine being a police officer with the stress swings they have to deal with. Quiet one minute and then a domestic dispute where there may be life and death situations the next. Fortunately, these cases probably don't come around this often but these guys (and gals) have to be alert at all times.

Sunday, March 02, 2008

Went to the Commercial Street footbridge yesterday. I had mixed results as a Burlington Northern Santa Fe coal train came speeding by. I was a little surprised at the blur and at first I moaned and then I thought about it a little more. I often don't get a blurred result but it does give the impression of speed. Sort of the opposite of panning.

Perhaps I would have liked it better had I had a father and son watching the train in the foreground.

Saturday, March 01, 2008

During our monthly camera club meeting we had a demonstration put on by our resident Photoshop expert. He introduced us to blending techniques, layers and masks. I have seen enough of these now I think it is finally sinking into my rather thick skull.

Just so I could capture what I learned I immediately sat down and tried a few of the things we learned on a couple of my Arches National Park pictures. Wow I miss the West.

It is absolutely beautiful here so I am going out to take pictures. Have a great weekend!

About Me

Over the past few years I have developed a passion for photography and for the friends I have met along the way.
I hope you get a sense of place or time from my photos. I create images to share the beauty of this country and it's people. I also learn something new each time I push the shutter button and that is truly what matters.

Copyright Notice

Please remember the photos here are my creative property. All work is copyrighted by Michael Young Photography. Please contact me if you are interested in purchasing any photos for personal or business use. Thank you.